


Good Job , Dave

by gonta_gokuhara_lover



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Abusive Dave's Bro | Beta Dirk Strider, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, Eating Disorders, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Mild Language, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-12 15:41:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29012976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gonta_gokuhara_lover/pseuds/gonta_gokuhara_lover
Summary: Dave needs to eat . Karkat makes sure that he does .
Relationships: Dave Strider/Karkat Vantas
Comments: 13
Kudos: 79





	Good Job , Dave

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rosarmio](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosarmio/gifts).



> Hope this is acceptable LOLZ love u bae

His aviators fall nearly into the sink . A shaky hand reaches out to catch them and he doesn't realize it's his own for more than a few seconds . Blood hits the white tile , and the running water washes it away . He's starting to hate the sound of it . 

His hands sit at the edge of the tub and his stomach empties itself again . His throat burns . Somewhere in the back of his head he thinks about the fact that his enamel is going to be absolutely fucked after this . It's pure muscle memory at this point . Heave . Watch the water wash away his mistakes . 

He doesn't trust anyone to cook for him , really . He's afraid of finding razorblades in his soup and blades in the cabinets , so honestly he avoids the kitchen as much as he can . But eating is unavoidable . He ate earlier this morning . 

And then promptly convinced himself that he'd been poisoned . John is usually the one to point out that he's getting to be on the dangerous side of thin again , and he can FEEL Karkat's eyes get narrower everytime the troll looks at him . 

He wonders what Karkat would think of him now . Probably get all concerned , looking up at him with those red eyes of his . Dave grits his teeth . Fake Karkat's sympathy makes his heart ache . 

The running water is starting to feel louder than it is . He dips his head under the faucet to rinse out his mouth , and turns it off as soon as he can . The aviators get back to his face , and as he wipes his mouth he realizes that his nose hasn't stopped bleeding . 

It's a little too late though , apparently , because his feet had carried him out of the bathrooms and into the hallway , where Karkat happened to be . Apparently he'd been waiting . 

Dave stops . 

Karkat stops . 

They look at each other for a moment . 

" You're bleeding , " He says . Dave feels stupid . His face morphs into a default ' so what ' sort of expression . 

" I'm bleeding , " He agrees . Karkat looks unamused . Not in the sort of way where he fronts being unamused but there's humour glinting behind it , either . He's concerned . Karkat always wore his heart out on his sleeve , a fact that Dave is increasingly thankful for . He's not exactly sure what he'd do if Karkat was like Br

If Karkat was harder to read . The troll crosses his arms . And then he sighs . The same way that Rose and Kanaya sigh , with that slightly condescending , disappointed sigh . Dave feels like he's been burned just from hearing it . His nose drips onto his hand . He must've bursted a blood vessel or something . 

His head hurts . 

Karkat speaks to him again , and Dave can't help but notice his teeth . Sharp . " You look sick . "

It's an accusation . Dave knows better than to dodge it , but he averts his eyes anyway . " I WAS sick . Ate something bad , I think . "

Karkat narrows his eyes . They seem to pierce through Dave's aviator sunglasses . " No one else is sick . And you ate with everyone else . "

Shit . Dave did eat with everyone else . Usually he waits till the dead of night and eats until he feels like he's going to die , but he DID have a meal with everyone today . Why was he so stupid ? How could he have been poisoned if everyone ate ? 

Unless it was a targeted attack ? Maybe they waited to plate ? His head is spinning . He doesn't realize he's on the floor until Karkat is snapping in his face . 

" Dave ? Dave , look at me or I'm taking your glasses . "

" Don't do that , I'd look like a dork , totally uncool , lose half my cool in one go ," He grumbles . 

" I'll do it if I have to . What the hell happened ? First I hear you puking your fucking guts out , and now you're on the fucking floor . "

Dave thinks about his words . A little too long , apparently . Karkat is helping him to his feet . Which is hard for the troll , because frankly , Dave is tall and Karkat is not . It makes Dave want to cry . 

Bro would have left him there . Bro would have poisoned him . Bro would have . Bro would have . Karkat isn't Bro . Bro isn't Karkat . Would Karkat poison him ? Is this his way of apologizing ? 

" Snap out of it , meatbag . "

Meatbag . Dave laughs a little at it , and starts dragging his feet . Karkat doesn't take him towards his own room , and instead to the troll's respiteblock . Bean bags in the corner , and Dave is dropped unceremoniously onto them . 

Karkat disappears to rummage through his drawers , and Dave sits there for a moment , blood drying on his face . Karkat returns with ... A bag of popcorn that he'd stashed away days before . He's a bit of a hoarder . The popcorn bag hits Dave in the stomach . It's unopened . 

Karkat crosses his arms again . " Eat it . "

Dave swallows . He looks at the bag . He looks at Karkat . In his brain he's slightly afraid of a smuppet jumping out at him if he opens the bag , for some sick joke . Karkat looks concerned . 

" I'm serious , Dave . It's not opened , and you need to eat . What are you so afraid of ? "

poison knives smuppets fireworks razorblades gunpowder ninja stars BRO

Bro . 

Dave is shaking a little . He's afraid of Bro . The realization hits him like a truck , and his breath feels uneven . Karkat is standing there . He isn't saying anything . Dave needs to respond . Karkat isn't saying anything . 

For a second he feels like a kid again . He'd gotten in trouble plenty of times , for messing with Bro's things , for hiding bottles of apple juice in his closet . For a second it's Bro standing there instead of Karkat . 

His lip trembles and he's crying before he has a chance to stop it . 

He doesn't want to be this way . Bro made him like this . He loves Bro . He's afraid of him . He feels so many things all at once and they're killing him he's dying he can't breathe and yet Karkat

Is

Holding him

Karkat is holding him . " Breathe , Dave . Seriously , you're gonna puke again if you don't . I don't mind you crying , but I'm not gonna have you pass out on me . "

Dave takes a breath . Karkat tells him to do it again . 

He feels the warmth the Knight is radiating . Trolls are colder than people , normally , but the lower bloods are hot . Karkat is around human temperature . Dave notices these things . Maybe he has to , because he's so starved for attention that anything vaguely human shaped gives him euphoria to touch . 

And then he realizes that Karkat is purring . At him . 

" Eat , " He rumbles . 

Dave looks at the bag in his lap . 

Karkat opens it for him and then returns his arms . Dave looks inside the bag . He pours a little of the popcorn into his hand . He inspects it . Karkat snags a piece out of his palm to chew on . Dave decides that it would be really hard to poison him like that . 

Dave eats . He realizes that his mouth tastes gross as hell . He hasn't brushed his teeth since vomiting . He eats another handful . Karkat continues purring . The bag is emptied . 

" Good job , Dave . "

The words bounce around the boy's skull . Good job , Dave . 

Good job , Dave . 

He'll eat anything to hear that again .


End file.
